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Every day was wonderful!

Sail Date:
June 2009

Destination:
Europe - Western Mediterranean

Embarkation:
Rome (Civitavecchia)

We arrived in Naples from Rome to board the ship around noon and found our way through the terminal with lots of helpful MSC staff along the way. The only thing I would note that at other ports I think there was more of a welcome than at Naples. Once we left the terminal there was only the ship's photographer and then we were on board. No one explained the drink packages etc., until we got to the cafeteria for lunch. You can buy various packages of beer, wine and/or water at different levels depending on how much you intend to drink. I didn't think it was too expensive, as I believe one package was for 4 bottles of wine and 7 bottles of water for 78 Euros. We went to the cafeteria area for lunch that day for the first and only time. It was very crowded and very large with people, particularily a lot of children dashing around loading their plates. You have to first get a table, then take turns getting food which is spread over numerous serving areas and by the time we each found More
something the other person would be finished their food.

We left the ship to visit Naples and soon as we were finished eating. We did check out our cabin but our luggage had not yet arrived so we headed out on the streets of Naples. The ship docks very close to the older part of the city, so no need for a cab or bus. We saw the Archaelogical museum which has a lot of things from Pompeii since there was no time to go out there as we had to be on board by 6.30p.m. We had taken the early seating for dinner which is now at 7 p.m rather than 7.30 which it had been when we booked. We took in the show at 9.30 p.m.

We attended all of the shows, some were better than others but they were all worth going to for the 40 minutes or so they last. Lots of very good acrobats, dancers etc. The kind of shows you would expect with 5 or more languages in the audience. We thought that the MC and the dancers which did all of the shows were most professional compared to some of the animation teams we have seen at the all inclusive resorts.

The food was very good in the dining rooms. We had breakfast and dinner in either the red or gold rooms, most of the time they weren't that busy and we could find a table with a view out the window. Tip.. if one of the entrances has a closed sign just go to the other entrance or other room some where will be open...avoid the cafeteria if you can.

We used the pools on board but mainly the adult one at the rear of the ship. Way too many children at the other pool areas.

We visited most of the bar areas and danced at on two different bar occaions. Lots of nice music from very good performers. Way too many children here as well. We aren't use to seeing children in strollers in bar areas at midnight.

I'm sure you can see a pattern here. We enjoyed our cruise but we think we would have liked it better with a few less children. This was early June and we thought they may not have been on school holiday yet. Our only other comment would be that we would have liked being in port a little longer and perhaps a bit more local port information would have been nice. Less

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Cabin review: 3

Inside cabin was larger than we expected. Plenty of closet and drawers for storing our clothing. Cabin service was excellent. Would have liked more English stations on televison, I think they could show some old movies for free in the evening.Some evenings there was some noise from other cabins especially children playing etc., at late hour. Overall it was O.K. because it seemed like our "neighbours" were always changing since we picked up new passengers and others left at every port.

Port and Shore Excursions

The ship docks quite a ways to the west of the downtown area. They provide a shuttle into the city for 5 Euros each but we chose to walk. Once you leave the ferry terminal heading east you will see the column of Columbus. This marks the end of Las Ramblis which is the main shopping street of Barcelona and also beyond it further east you will see the harbour, boardwalks and the beach. We later discovered that there is a local bus marked Port 3 that costs 3Euros return and takes you from the terminal to downtown as well. It is not that far from the ship docks to Columbus column since we walked it three times, since we returned from shopping and sightseeing in the morning for lunch and then changed to bathing suits and went to the beach in the afternoon. We did ride the local bus back from the beach in the afternoon.

Arrived on Sunday, so not many shops open. Instead we went to the Brignole Genoa train station and bought tickets to Camogili. Spent most of the day in Camogili. Train tickets were 3.80 Euros return. Beautiful train ride for about 40 minutes along the rugged coast line and then we relaxed in the sun until lunch time. Pizza and beer at a sidewalk cafe overlooking the beach area and caught the 2.30 train back to Genoa. More shops were open in the afternoon especially in the aquarium area so we did a little shopping before returning to the ship.

The ship docks a long long way from the old port of Marseille. You can get a local bus if you walk out to the bus stop but it is quite a distance. We chose to take a shuttle from the ship 10Euros each but it dropped us off near old port. We then took a boat from the port to the Island D'If which has the Monte Cristo fortress. It costs 10Euros for the boat but you get a very nice ride out of the harbor and see the off shore islands and a unique view of the city. Once out there you pay another 5Euros to enter the fortress and museum. all in all still much cheaper than taking the ship's excursion out there. We came back from D'If about noon and had a small lunch in the city and explored the back streets etc., before taking the shuttle back in the late afternoon.

We were in Palermo from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. We did not book any excursions. We walked from the dock area throughout the city. A number of sites are very close to the ship. We visited the cathederel, a very large market and the Capuchin Catacombes. We returned to the ship for lunch.

Again, the ship docks close enough for walking to different parts of the city. We spent the three hours in the city at the Cathederel, Arab Baths and shopping. Then went to the public beach which is just beyond the cathederel and was not too busy. We did not go back to the ship for dinner, but stayed in the city shopping and then had wine and tapas at a small bar overlooking the sailboats in the harbor. We returned to the ship about 10 p.m. or so and took in the late show at the theatre at 11.30 p.m.

We took the culture and museum excursion by booking on the ship. It was very confusing at the beginning since they had several hundred people meeting in the theatre to take excursions, very few of them in English. When they finally got us to our bus, I'm sure we were late starting and for that reason the whole tour seemed a little rushed and in fact our bus didn't get back to the ship until after 1 pm so the ship did not leave port on time. The ship docks at La Goulette which is long way from anything other then some vendors who show up at the terminal building with their camels and belly dancers. We spoke to other people who had taken a taxi ( there are white tourist ones at the terminal that have a set price for visiting most of the same sites that we visited on the excursion) at about half the price of the bus. We visited Carthage ruins and the Roman baths, the museum at Carthage and the village of Port Said Sid.